The Friend Code is dead, long live the Nintendo Network ID

Wii U's new online system makes it easy to connect directly with other players.

While overall impressions of the Nintendo systems are mixed among gamers, one feature has been almost universally reviled: the company's use of "Friend Codes" to represent players. By requiring users to exchange 12-digit numeric codes just to send messages to friends—and often register game-specific codes to play certain games online together—Nintendo made online features a frustrating afterthought on its systems for years.

Nintendo is changing that around for the impending launch of the Wii U, replacing the system-assigned Friend Codes with a player-selected Nintendo Network ID. The company is also making it easier to connect with people you run in to while using the system online, opening up what was once a frustratingly closed system.

In a Nintendo Direct video message posted this morning, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata introduced the concept of the Nintendo Network ID. It will eventually serve as your online identifier across Nintendo systems and also on browser-based and smartphone apps. Users have to provide a date of birth, gender, general location, and e-mail address to get an account. While the video didn't go into detail about how usernames would be chosen, it appears that users will be able to use an alphanumeric Mii nickname to represent themselves online, along with a custom-made Mii character.

Up to 12 users will be able to have a password-protected Nintendo Network account on each system. Those accounts will keep things like play history, game settings, browser bookmarks, and save data (though some games will let you share save data among multiple users). The Nintendo Network ID will also serve as your account for the Nintendo eShop, but anything one user purchases will be available to others as well.

Perhaps most importantly, Iwata said you'll be able to link your Nintendo Network ID into online services run by other publishers, providing a unified login for most if not all of the system's online games. Hopefully this will prevent some of the recent confusion we've heard from Wii U developers as far as online gameplay on the system is concerned.

Connecting to other players

With a new Nintendo Network ID in hand, players will be able to connect with real-world friends just by exchanging and entering usernames. That should be much more convenient than trying to copy down 12-digit numbers. But the Wii U opens up the process further by letting users interact directly with strangers on the Miiverse social service.

"Miiverse represents a great transformation for Nintendo’s online network policy," Iwata said in a new "Iwata Asks" interview with the makers of the Wii U's Miiverse social network.

The Friend Code system was set up to make sure Wii users avoided objectionable content by interacting only with friends that you know in real life, he explained. But the company soon noticed "some people put their Friend Codes on other networks and bulletin boards and exchanged them with strangers anyway." Leaving aside the issue of whether online-only friends and acquaintances are really "strangers," it was clear the Friend Code system was introducing a lot of hassle with no real protection benefits.

With Wii U, Nintendo is simply letting users become friends with other users that own and play the same games. You'll see a random selection of some of these users whenever you turn on the system, with Miis gathering around an icons representing each game in a virtual gathering place the company is calling "Warawara Plaza." These Miis will share a curated selection of posted messages and pictures from that game's message board in the plaza, and you'll be able to review play history for other users to try to find new connections.

The Wii U development team made quite a big deal about how having a shared experience with a specific game was a key to creating a bond between two random Wii U owners, creating what Iwata grandly refers to as an "empathy network." "In the same way that men and women don’t find themselves suddenly going out without talking to each other, in Miiverse, you talk about a game in which you are both interested in," he said. He even suggested this connection will help prevent the creation of "rude" content from users hiding behind anonymized user names, because "if you are tied together by empathy, I feel like real names become less important."

That seems like a bit of a stretch to us. Regardless, it's still nice that Nintendo is finally acknowledging console users want to be able to easily connect directly with people they meet through games, not just with people they know in real life. Thankfully, the era of the Friend Code can now become a historical footnote like the Wii Speak Microphone and the Nintendo e-Reader.

Why do they need to know when I was born and what gender I am? That is an artificial barrier to entry. You don't need to know who I am in order to let me play a game. If I do something offensive, ban me, regardless if I have a persistent cloaca or not.

I can understand age restrictions on games, but parents should be monitoring their children's online habits, if they even care. I shouldn't have to produce my identity to buy, sell, or trade ... unless I'm using a Credit Card. An identity just isn't that important.

Why do they need to know when I was born and what gender I am? That is an artificial barrier to entry. You don't need to know who I am in order to let me play a game. If I do something offensive, ban me, regardless if I have a persistent cloaca or not.

This is to set up your Nintendo Network and eShop account, and your Miiverse alias. My guess is targeted marketing via whatever mail system is setup on the Wii U, or e-mail. You can always enter incorrect information, if you want. I don't think you have to even register for the Nintendo Network to jump in and play games.

It would be really nice if they would back port this to the Wii so I can associate the games I bought for that with the account.

Amen! I would love to have my SNES and N64 games on 3DS in particular. Unfortunately, since they're selling many of the same NES games again on the 3DS eShop, I doubt this is what they plan to do.

well, i dont think you will get them onto your 3ds, but there is what seems to be a pretty simple wii to wiiu transfer tool for all the wii VC and wiiware games, as well as saves etc.

its kinda sad, but i had resigned myself to having to keep the wii out in the living room to continue playing those games.

One concern i have with this transfer tool is that i wasnt able to back up many wii save files to an SD card on the wii, so im not sure if youll actually be able to transfer those saves to the wiiu, which would mean no metal slug anthology for me. sad panda....

The whole random stranger thing is pretty facepalm worthy though. If there's anything the last decade of multiplayer gaming has taught us it's that people want to play with their already established social circles (RL or virtual), and don't want to interact with random people any more than the minimum amount required for the game to work.

Happy to hear that Nintendo is expanding their online services but I have to wonder how they will tackle "objectionable" content. Iwata seems to have a pretty fluffy view of what the online experience will be (empathy network?) and it's unclear how Nintendo will contend (policy-wise) with offensive content, virtual bullying, etc.

Slightly OT: the comment of smartphone apps piqued my interest. I know its a long shot, but if nintendo could get on board with releasing back catalog as iOS/android apps, that would be amazing.... its a dream, and controls would be an issue, but .... please... it seems like such a waste to have all that IP gathering dust.

The whole random stranger thing is pretty facepalm worthy though. If there's anything the last decade of multiplayer gaming has taught us it's that people want to play with their already established social circles (RL or virtual), and don't want to interact with random people any more than the minimum amount required for the game to work.

I don't think Nintendo is doing anything here that would prevent that, necessarily. I think the difference in his focus has more to do with his location, than anything. The Japanese culture hasn't taken to online gaming the same way people in the US have, and they have different ideas about what it's purpose and scope is. Empathy isn't exactly a bad thing to try to inject into online gaming either. The vast majority of casual gamers (which all gaming companies are now targeting) are probably put off by most of the dudebros and hardcore gamer 13 years olds who seem to use expletives to desribe what they are going to do to your expletive. This is at the very least a novel approach. I hope it actually leads to all the d-bags getting filtered out so people may actually be more interested in making new friends who play the same games they do.

The good news - I think the biggest fears (i.e. friend codes) are being alleviated.

The not quite so good news - there are still quite a few questions when it comes to actual implementations of the service. In most cases it sounds like it's playing some catchup, but still lags behind other offerings right now (though the single sign-in could be a boon).

The biggest questions now are how does it interface with the games themselves, is there an easy way to play with friends (via joining or inviting).

He even suggested this connection will help prevent the creation of "rude" content from users hiding behind anonymized user names, because "if you are tied together by empathy, I feel like real names become less important."

That seems like a bit of a stretch to us.

That was a very polite way of saying it

You can really tell the system designers are Japanese. Their culture and mindset leak through every business decision they make, and reveal they way they perceive all human interaction. It's quite adorable!

but there is what seems to be a pretty simple wii to wiiu transfer tool for all the wii VC and wiiware games, as well as saves etc.

I have no doubt I'll be able to move my Wii saved games to the WiiU, but I don't think the new online system will transfer over.

For example, Mario Kart Wii actually gets you to enter friend codes within the game in order to play online with friends. Nintendo would have to include code on the WiiU specifically targeted at each online Wii game in order for them to use the new system. That's just not practical.

Friend codes will exist for the forseeable future, as long as there are still millions of Wii users.

Was there any mention of them bringing this system to the 3DS as well? With supposedly closer integration between a 3DS and WiiU in the future, it would seem odd to have the friend code system still present on the 3DS.

I still find myself preferring to play with friends in the same room than, say, online with Brad from Illinois (especially when Brad is 12 and just doesn't stop complaining about my Halo proficiency). So I guess I'm part of Nintendo's core audience

Slightly OT: the comment of smartphone apps piqued my interest. I know its a long shot, but if nintendo could get on board with releasing back catalog as iOS/android apps, that would be amazing.... its a dream, and controls would be an issue, but .... please... it seems like such a waste to have all that IP gathering dust.

Back OT: are there already nintendo apps on iOS/android?

How are they gathering dust when Nintendo releases them on their own systems as Virtual Console games?

I like Nintendo's products, but it's telling that even my smartphone offers a better gaming network than any device Nintendo's ever put out. Maybe Wii U is the combo breaker; but I'm not holding my breath.

Kyle Orland / Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in Pittsburgh, PA.